US won't extradite LulzSec suspect Cleary if prosecuted in UK

Summary:The US is not going to push for British hacking suspect Ryan Cleary to be extradited there, his lawyer has said.Cleary is suspected of being a member of the hacking collective LulzSec, which last year attacked the US Senate, the CIA and the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

Cleary's lawyer, Karen Todner, said in a statement sent on Friday that she understood the US prosecutors would not seek his extradition if he faced the charges — which are similar in both countries — in the UK.

However, she reiterated the claim that Cleary suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a condition on the autistic spectrum, and said this made his extradition "totally undesirable".

"As yet no decisions have been made as to which charges Mr Cleary will deny or accept, but we can state now that, should any application be made for Mr Cleary's extradition, then it will be fiercely contested," Todner said.

Todner also urged the UK government again to review the country's extradition arrangements with the US. Under these arrangements, drawn up as part of the 'war on terror', suspects can be extradited from the UK to the US without evidence being shown to the UK courts, but the reverse cannot happen.

Cleary's case has some similarities with that of Gary McKinnon, a self-confessed hacker who also suffers from Asperger's, and who is also facing extradition to the US on hacking charges.

McKinnon's case has been dragging on for years, with Todner being one of the lawyers representing him. The case has been one of the main focal points of the discussion over the UK-US extradition arrangements.

David Meyer is a freelance technology journalist. He fell into journalism when he realised his musical career wouldn't be paying many bills. His early journalistic career was spent in general news, working behind the scenes for BBC radio and on-air as a newsreader for independent stations. David's main focus is on communications, of both...
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